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Center For Grassland Studies Newsletter, Summer 2003, Volume 9, No. 3

Center for Grassland Studies: Newsletters

Slopes: Maintenance Hassle or Landscape Asset? by John Fech, Extension Educator, UNL

Potentials and Precautions in Turfgrass Biotechnology by Charles Francis, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, UNL

Applications for Grassland Reserve Program Due Sep.30

CGS 2003 Fall Seminar Series

CGS Citizens Advisory Council Tours Southeast Nebraska

Reminder of Nebraska Grazing Conference

Growing Strawberries In Utah, Larry A. Sagers

All Archived Publications

No abstract provided.

In Vitro Regeneration And Genetic Transformation Of Sesbania Drummondii: A Medicinally And Environmentally Important Plant, Satish Cheepala

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study describes rapid propagation of Sesbania drummondii using nodal explants isolated from seedlings and young plants. The nodal segments proliferated into multiple shoots on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 22.2 /M benzyladenine. Murashige and Skoog medium containing 2.2 and 4.5 //M thidiazuron induced 5 - 6 healthier shoots per axillary node from 3-month-old plants. Nodal segments cultured on MS medium containing combinations of benzyladenine (8.8 and 11.1 /JM) and either indole-3-butyric acid (0.24 - 2.46 //M) or indole-3-acetic acid (0.28 - 2.85 //M) produced fewer shoots. Callus when subcultured on 2.2 /LihA thidiazuron containing medium resulted in …

Chlorine Inactivation Of Adenovirus Type 40 And Feline Calicivirus, Jeanette A. Thurston-Enriquez, Charles N. Haas, Joseph Jacangelo, Charles P. Gerba

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Ct values, the concentration of free chlorine multiplied by time of contact with virus, were determined for free-chlorine inactivation experiments carried out with chloroform-extracted (dispersed) and non-chloroformextracted (aggregated) feline calicivirus (FCV), adenovirus type 40 (AD40), and polio virus type 1 (PV-1). Experiments were carried out with high and low pH and temperature conditions. Ct values were calculated directly from bench-scale free-chlorine inactivation experiments and from application of the efficiency factor Hom model. For each experimental condition, Ct values were higher at pH 8 than at pH 6, higher at 5°C than at 15°C, and higher for dispersed AD40 (dAD40) than …

Vascular Plant Surveys Of The Winnebago And Omaha Indian Reservations, Steven B. Rolfsmeier

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: White Papers, Conference Presentations, and Manuscripts

During the summer of 2000 the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC) undertook a vascular plant survey of the Winnebago and Omaha Indian reservations in northeast Nebraska. All funding for the project was provided by the NGPC. The primary objective of the project was to identify all native and exotic plant species growing on the reservations and to identify traditional uses of these plants by the Winnebago, Omaha and HoChunk people. Secondary objectives of the project include: 1) identify rare plant populations, 2) identify high-quality examples of native plant communities and 3) document threats to rare plant populations and native …

Evaluating Shootgro 4.0 As A Potential Winter Wheat Management Tool In The Czech Republic, Z. Zalud, G.S. Mcmaster, Wallace Wilhelm

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Improving current cultural practices often involves more precise timing of the management activity based on crop development. Using crop simulation models to predict crop development and phenology has several problems. First, most existing models do not simulate sufficient developmental and phenological detail required to optimize selected management practices. Second, crop models normally emphasize the cultivars and conditions for the region in which they were developed, and may not generate satisfactory results when applied in new regions. Lastly, when users apply these models to new regions they often lack the specific data and knowledge of the model to adequately determine the …

Pineywoods Native Plant Center, July 2003, Sfa Gardens, Stephen F. Austin State University

SFA Gardens Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Establishment And Seedling Growth Of Big Bluestem And Switchgrass Populations Divergently Selected For Seedling Tiller Number, Alexander J. Smart, Lowell E. Moser, Kenneth P. Vogel

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Selection at the seedling stage in grass breeding would be extremely useful if seedling traits are correlated to desired agronomic traits. The objective of this study was to evaluate seedling morphological development, plant growth, and field establishment of big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman) and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) populations that were developed by divergent selection for seed- ling tiller number while selecting for high shoot weight. Six populations were evaluated: (i) ‘Pawnee’ big bluestem base, (ii) ‘Pathfinder’ switchgrass base, (iii) big bluestem multiple tiller, (iv) big bluestem single tiller, (v) switchgrass multiple tiller, and (vi) switchgrass single tiller. …

Some Environmental Relationships Of Undergrowth Species In Aspen Communities Of The Intermountain West, W F. Mueggler

Aspen Bibliography

This analysis results from an opportunity to explore plant-environmental relationships from data collected for a different purpose. Origin of the data is a study designed to develop an aspen community-type classification for southern Idaho, western Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada which resulted in the publication "Aspen Community Types of the Intermountain Region" GTR INT-250 by W.F. Mueggler (1988).

The Prairie Naturalist Volume 35, No.2 June 2003

The Prairie Naturalist

NEST PARASITISM ON CONSTRUCTED ISLANDS IN NORTHWESTERN NORTH DAKOTA ▪ A. L. Zimmerman, M. A. Sovada, T. K. Kessler, and R. K. Murphy

HISTORICAL AND RECENT RECORDS AND FIRST NEST RECORDS OF HENSLOW'S SPARROW IN NORTH DAKOTA ▪ J. A. Shaffer, L. D. Igl, and F. Vanhove

AMERICAN AVOCET NESTING ON CONSTRUCTED ISLANDS IN NORTH DAKOTA ▪ A. L. Dahl, D. H. Johnson, L. D. Igl, K. L. Baer, T. L. Shaffer, M. A. Johnson, and R. E. Reynolds

CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNTS FOR NORTH DAKOTA 2002 ▪ R. N. Randall

MATERNAL LIVER AND EGG THIAMINE CONCENTRATIONS IN CHINOOK SALMON FROM …

Identification Of Qtls And Environmental Interactions Associated With Agronomic Traits On Chromosome 3a Of Wheat, B. T. Campbell, P. Stephen Baenziger, K. S. Gill, Kent M. Eskridge, H. Budak, M. Erayman, Ismail M. Dweikat, Y. Yen

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Genetic analyses of complex traits in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) are facilitated by the availability of unique genetic tools such as chromosome substitution lines and recombinant inbred chromosome lines (RICLs) which allow the effects of genes on a single chromosomes to be studied individually. Chromosome 3A of ‘Wichita’ is known to contain alleles at quantitative trait loci (QTLs) that influence variation in grain yield and agronomic performance traits relative to alleles of ‘Cheyenne.’ To determine the number, location, and environmental interactions of genes related to agronomic performance on chromosome 3A, QTL and QTL x environment analyses of 98 RICLs-3A …

Bcl-2 Family Members Inhibit Oxidative Stress-Induced Programmed Cell Death In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Shao-Rong Chen, David Dunigan, Martin Dickman

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Selected antiapoptotic genes were expressed in baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) to evaluate cytoprotective effects during oxidative stress. When exposed to treatments resulting in the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), including H₂O₂, menadione, or heat shock, wild-type yeast died and exhibited apoptotic-like characteristics, consistent with previous studies. Yeast strains were generated expressing nematode ced-9, human bcl-2, or chicken bcl-xl genes. These transformants tolerated a range of oxidative stresses, did not display features associated with apoptosis, and remained viable under conditions that were lethal to wildtype yeast. Yeast strains expressing a mutant antiapoptotic gene (bcl-2 …

Center For Grassland Studies Newsletter, Spring 2003, Volume 9, No. 2

Center for Grassland Studies: Newsletters

Turfgrass Biotechnology – 2003 Update by Terrance Riordan, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, UNL

Ecosystem Consequences of Trees in Grasslands: Insights from Bessey’s Forest by David Wedin, School of Natural Resource Sciences, UNL

UNL Offers New Professional Golf Management Program

Richard Knight to Speak on Biodiversity on Rangelands Oct. 20

2003 Nebraska Grazing Conference in Kearney August 11-12

National Speakers to be Featured at Brush Creek Ranch Conference & Field Day

Iowa Prairie Conference: The Practical Prairie

Substoichiometric Shifting In The Plant Mitochondrial Genome Is Influenced By A Gene Homologous To Muts, Ricardo V. Abdelnoor, Ryan Yule, Annakaisa Elo, Alan C. Christensen, Gilbert Meyer-Gauen, Sally A. Mackenzie

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

The plant mitochondrial genome is retained in a multipartite structure that arises by a process of repeat-mediated homologous recombination. Low-frequency ectopic recombination also occurs, often producing sequence chimeras, aberrant ORFs, and novel subgenomic DNA molecules. This genomic plasticity may distinguish the plant mitochondrion from mammalian and fungal types. In plants, relative copy number of recombination-derived subgenomic DNA molecules within mitochondria is controlled by nuclear genes, and a genomic shifting process can result in their differential copy number suppression to nearly undetectable levels. We have cloned a nuclear gene that regulates mitochondrial substoichiometric shifting in Arabidopsis. The CHM gene was …

Physiological And Biochemical Aspects Of Agrobacterium-Wheat (Triticum Aestivum L.) Interactions, David L. Parrott Jr.

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Agrobacterium tumefaciens and A. rhizogenes are the causal agents of gall or hairy root disease, but normally the bacteria do not cause disease in wheat. However, both bacteria grew without inhibition when exposed to intact or wounded wheat roots or embryos, and they colonized wheat root surfaces to levels similar to dicotyledonous plants. A. tumefaciens and A. rhizogenes induced 23% cell death after a 1-h exposure to wheat embryo cells grown in 7.4 mM O₂, while the extent of cell death at 2.1 mM O₂ was 8%. Contact with A. tumefaciens or A. rhizogenes caused cultured wheat …

Powdery Mildew In Wine Grapes In Western Australia, Diana Fisher, Trevor Wicks Dr

Bulletins 4000 -

Powdery mildew is caused by the fungal pathogen Uncinula necator. It is the most persistent fungal problem of grapes in WA and one of the most widespread fungal diseases of grapevines in the world. It is characterised by ash-grey to white powdery growth on green tissue of the vine. If uncontrolled it can cause serious crop losses and impair wine quality.

Comparison Of Native Brushland, Replanted, And Unaided Secondary Succession Plant Communities In The Lower Rio Grande Valley Of Texas, Mitchell Allen Sternberg

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)

Agriculture and urban development have destroyed 95% of native brushland habitat in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) of south Texas. Therefore, habitat restoration is an important issue in the LRGV. Since 1982, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been replanting areas in the LRGV to native brushland species to establish a wildlife corridor along the lower reach of the Rio Grande. Vegetation composition of a mature brushland, a replanted habitat and an unaided secondary succession site (fallow field) were examined at one locale in the LRGV in 1999. The mature brushland edge plot had the highest species richness …

Determining The Factors That Control Respiration And Carbon Use Efficiency In Crop Plants, Jonathan M. Frantz

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In the literature on plant respiration, there are two viewpoints concerning the source of respiratory control: supply (photosynthate availability) or demand (temperature dependent) limitations. While different studies indicate the primary dependency for respiration is either the supply or demand side, the two paradigms cannot both be true. The relative importance of each paradigm may depend on a number of factors including period of time during which respiration is measured, phase of plant development, environmental conditions, and species.

Studies were performed using continuous CO₂ gas-exchange instrumentation to monitor short- and long-term changes in whole canopies of lettuce, tomato, soybean, and …

Effect Of Drought, Flooding, And Potassium Stress On The Quantity And Composition Of Root Exudates In Axenic Culture, Amelia Henry

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Root exudates include important chelating compounds and can change the rhizosphere pH by several units. These changes are essential for nutrient uptake and can also alter solubility of soil contaminants and increase plant uptake. Mild root-zone stress may increase exudation and more severe stress can damage membranes and increase root turnover, all of which increase root-zone carbon. Increased carbon from this rhizodeposition can increase microbial activity, which might help degrade contaminants. We studied the effect of three types of stress on root exudation of crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum): low K⁺, drought, and flooding. These stresses were …

Sustainability Issues For Agriculture In Western Australia, Anne Bennett, Ross Kingwell, Ross George

Agriculture reports

This paper describes briefly the main challenges to the sustainability of agriculture in Western Australia and outlines some means of responding the the challenges: market-based approaches; agricultural and environmental research and development; accelerated adjustment; and global and national policy initiatives. Challenges include: land resource quality (salinity, soil acidity), biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions, climate change, water availability, food safety, and pests and diseases.

Induced Resistance As A Mechanism Of Biological Control By Lysobacter Enzymogenes Strain C3, Ozlem Kilic-Ekici, Gary Y. Yuen

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Induced resistance was found to be a mechanism for biological control of leaf spot, caused by Bipolaris sorokiniana, in tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) using the bacterium Lysobacter enzymogenes strain C3. Resistance elicited by C3 suppressed germination of B. sorokiniana conidia on the phylloplane in addition to reducing the severity of leaf spot. The pathogen-inhibitory effect could be separated from antibiosis by using heat-inactivated cells of C3 that retained no antifungal activity. Application of live or heat-killed cells to tall fescue leaves resulted only in localized resistance confined to the treated leaf, whereas treatment of roots resulted in …

What Happens To Genes In Duplicated Genomes - With Correction, Elizabeth Kellogg

Biology Department Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Agroecosystems Analysis From The Grass Roots: A Multidimensional Experiential Learning Course, Mary Wiedenhoeft, Steve Simmons, Ricardo Salvador, Gina Mcandrews, Charles A. Francis, James W. King, David Hole

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Faculty Publications

An intensive, experiential travel course in Agroecosystems Analysis was conducted in Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska (United States) during summers of 1998 and 1999. The intended student audience was advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students. Pretravel readings and a week-long series of farm visits, which consisted of in-depth interviews with the farmers and their families, prepared student teams to analyze and evaluate the production, economic, environmental, and social sustainability of 10 farms. Students shared their analyses both orally and in written reports. Based on a multifaceted student evaluation process, we found that participants were highly motivated, strongly engaged with the course …

Development Of A Procedure For Sustainable In Situ Aquifer Denitrification, Imtiyaz A. Khan, Roy F. Spalding

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Denitrification experiments have provided data showing the pitfalls and successes in developing a sustainable injection/extraction system in a sand and gravel aquifer. Experiments increase in complexity from continuous injection at one well to automated-pulsed eight well injections. In both continuous and pulsed injection of organic carbon, 40 mg NO_3-N l^–1 was reduced below the detection limit of < 0.1 mg NO_3-N l^–1 in the denitrification zones. Under continuous injection, accumulation of bacterial exudates in the vicinity of the injection well resulted in injection well clogging within ten days. Periodic cleaning of the injection well and the adjacent …

Nebline, April 2003

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Plant and Pest Diagnostic Services Can Help You!
The Value of the Correct Diagnosis
Planning to Plant a Tree? Read This First!
What Day is Arbor Day?
Garden Guide
Easter Lily Care Take A Field Trip To Audubon Spring Creek Prairie
Termite Control Workshop May 22
Walk for the Birds
Summary of 2002 Nebraska West Nile Virus Surveillance Results
Household Hazardous Waste Collections for 2003
Security Concerns for Pesticides or Fertilizers
Graze Conservatively Following Drought Year
Nebraska Pioneer Farm Awards Deadline May 1
Managing Fertilizer Use in Dry Soils
Latest U.S. Drought Monitor Map
Preparing the Lawn for a Potential …

Host Range Extension For Chlorochlamys Chloroleucaria (Geometrinae, Geometridae) To Include Eriogonum Alatum (Polygonaceae), Kathleen H. Keeler, George J. Balogh

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

In 2001 and 2002 we collected specimens of Chlorochlamys chloroleucaria from Eriogonum alatum Torr., winged false buckwheat. Eriogonum alatum occurs at elevations of 5000-10,000 feet on both sides of the Rocky Mountains, from Utah (Welsh et al. 1987) to western Nebraska, southeastern Wyoming (Dorn 1977) to western Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle to Arizona (Great Plains Flora Association 1986).

A Bt Transgene Reduces Herbivory And Enhances Fecundity In Wild Sunflowers, A. A. Snow, Diana Pilson, L. H. Rieseberg, M. J. Paulsen, N. Pleskac, M. R. Reagon, D. E. Wolf, S. M. Selbo

Diana Pilson Publications

Gene flow from transgenic crops can introduce novel traits into related species, but the ecological importance of this process is unknown. Here, we report the first empirical evidence that wild plants can benefit from a bacterial transgene under uncaged, natural conditions. Cultivated sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is known to hybridize frequently with wild sunflower (H. annuus) in the western and midwestern United States. We studied a crop-developed Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) transgene, cry1Ac, in backcrossed wild sunflower populations. Lepidopteran damage on transgenic plants was strongly reduced relative to control plants at our two study sites, while damage …

Evolution Of Wheat Streak Mosaic Virus: Dynamics Of Population Growth Within Plants May Explain Limited Variation, Roy C. French, Drake C. Stenger

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Like many other plant RNA viruses, Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV) sequence diversity within and among infected plants is low given the large number of virions produced. This may be explained by considering aspects of plant virus life history. Intracellular replication of RNA viruses is predominately linear, not exponential, which means that the rate at which mutations accumulate also is linear. Bottlenecks during systemic movement further limit diversity. Analysis of mixed infections with two WSMV isolates suggests that about four viral genomes participate in systemic invasion of each tiller. Low effective population size increases the role of stochastic processes on …

An Evaluation Of Four Crop : Weed Competition Models Using A Common Data Set, W. Deen, R. Cousens, J. Warringa, L. Bastiaans, P. Carberrys, K. Rebel, S. Riha, C. Murphy, L. R. Benjamin, C. Cloughley, J. Cussans, F. Forcella, T. Hunt, P. Jamieson, John Lindquist, E. Wangs

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

To date, several crop : weed competition models have been developed. Developers of the various models were invited to compare model performance using a common data set. The data set consisted of wheat and Lolium rigidum grown in monoculture and mixtures under dryland and irrigated conditions. Results from four crop : weed competition models are presented: ALMANAC, APSIM, CROPSIM and INTERCOM. For all models, deviations between observed and predicted values for monoculture wheat were only slightly lower than for wheat grown in competition with L. rigidum, even though the workshop participants had access to monoculture data while parameterizing models. …

The Vascular Plant Flora Of The Tennessee River Gardens Area, Amanda Erin King

Honors Theses

The purpose of this project was to identify all native and introduced vascular plant species near the Tennessee River Gardens. The field work resulted in 355 specimens that represent 81 families, 190 genera, and 268 species. In addition to collecting and identifying, I also compared my flora with that of Lookout Mountain Park to determine the degree of similarity between the two sites which are both south of the Tennessee River. Another comparison was completed contrasting my flora with the flora of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. The biotic similarity data I compiled are presented along with the biotic …